South Dakota program
A room near treatment (Ronald McDonald House)
Ronald McDonald House gives families a free place to stay while a child receives treatment in Sioux Falls.
What it is
Ronald McDonald House gives families a free place to stay while a child receives treatment in Sioux Falls.
A nearby room can make a long treatment stay easier to manage. Two Sioux Falls houses serve families near Sanford and Avera. Space has to be confirmed for the dates you need.
Eligibility rules
- Your child must be receiving treatment in Sioux Falls. There is no income test.
What you get
- A room at no nightly charge, with access to a kitchen.
What the help includes
- The two houses are near the Sanford and Avera hospitals.
If you decide to apply
- If a room would help, ask the ward or oncology social worker for a referral.
- Share your treatment dates with Ronald McDonald House at 605-336-6398 and ask about space.
Ronald McDonald House Charities of South Dakota: 605-336-6398 · Official page ↗
After you ask
- The house confirms whether it can offer a room for your dates.
Good to know
A room is not guaranteed. A referral gives the house a way to check availability.
Other details
- Families usually live more than 30 miles away and have a child 21 or younger in local treatment. A referral is not a reservation: the house checks space on the morning you arrive and keeps a waiting list when full. Adults staying need a background check.
Official sources
“Would a Ronald McDonald House stay make sense for us? What are the benefits and drawbacks, and could you help with a referral if we choose it?”
Why I’m asking: I want to know whether we can stay near treatment without paying hotel costs.
More background and detailed requirements
Additional program information and published rules
Who does what
The three parts, side by side. The agency decides; nobody on this page does.
You
Ask on day one rather than day ten.
Your social worker
The ward or the oncology social worker makes the referral.
The care team
Records and letters when the application asks for them.
- Who decides
- Ronald McDonald House Charities of South Dakota
- Ask your social worker
- “We live too far to drive home each night. Can you refer us to the Ronald McDonald House today?”
How to apply
First step: Ask the ward to refer you today, or call 605-336-6398.
- Ask the ward to refer you on the first day of admission.
- Call 605-336-6398 and ask which house is nearer your child's hospital.
Official application / program page ↗
Where it starts: Ask the ward or the oncology social worker to refer you, or call 605-336-6398.
What to gather
- Your child's admission details
How long: No published waiting time. Ask early.
What a yes looks like
A room, at no cost, for as long as your child is being treated.
What a no looks like, and the next move
Ask the hospital social worker what other lodging help the hospital itself has, and ask about Medicaid meals and lodging money if your trip is over 150 miles.
Watch out
- A room cannot be promised and no waiting time is published.
- The Rapid City house is still being built.
The numbers and the rules
The arcane layer, kept on purpose. Checked September 11, 2026.
What it is worth
A free room in Sioux Falls, near either hospital.
- $0 — What the room costs a family
Covers: A bedroom, kitchen and laundry near the hospital · A place for siblings to be while a parent is on the ward
What it costs the family: No cost.
The eligibility facts, as published
- Residency
- families of a child receiving treatment in Sioux Falls
- Income
- not means-tested
Expect friction on: A room cannot be promised; there is no published waiting time · The Rapid City house is still being built, so a West River family travelling east has no equivalent at home
The trap: A room cannot be promised and there is no published waiting time. Ask the ward to refer you on the first day rather than when you are already exhausted.
Where I read this
- Ronald McDonald House Charities of South Dakota — Ronald McDonald House Charities of South Dakota, read September 10, 2026